Weather News

Perth's thirst quenched at last

Mellissa Mackellar,
Wednesday July 10, 2013 - 12:54 EST

A cold front brought thirst-quenching rain to Perth on Tuesday, and there's more wet weather on the way.

The state capital received 35mm of rain to 9am on Wednesday, its heaviest falls in two months. This is more than the city saw in the whole of July last year. After having their second driest June on record, locals were no-doubt rejoicing in the rain.

A total of 48mm fell at Jandakot Airport, their heaviest July rain since at least 2005. Meanwhile, South Perth picked up 26mm, with 40mm at Armadale and 30mm at Garden Island.

Further south there were widespread falls of 10-20mm throughout the South West District, with 22mm at Bunbury and 19mm at Busselton.

Most of the rain fell during Tuesday afternoon and evening, before the cloud cleared quickly during Wednesday morning. The clear skies allowed the mercury to drop, which combined with high humidity to bring a very foggy morning.

Visibility was as low as 200m at Pearce RAAF base, where the fog hung around and kept visibility below 300m as late as 9am. It was also misty at Perth Airport with visibility down to 1000m, although flights were not interrupted.

A low pressure system is expected to develop over southern WA on Thursday, bringing further falls to the region.